Life-guard for railway-trucks.



APPLICATION FILED MAR. 5, 1913.

Patented June 17, 1913.

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HOMER I-I. LAWRENCE, ()F ST. ALBANS, VERMONT.

LIFE-GUARD FOB RAILWAY-TRUCKS.

To (ZZZ whom Z15 may concern:

Be it known that I, HOMER H. LAWRENCE, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of St. Albans, county of Franklin, State of Vermont, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Life- Guards forRailway-Trucks, of which the following is a full and clearspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure 1 is a side elevation of a railway truck provided with myattachments; Fig. 2 a plan view of one side of the truck; Fig. 3 avertical sectional view through the fender roll or spool; and Fig. adetail perspective view of the spring for supporting the roll or spool.

The object of this invention is to provide the truck with simple lifeguard devices, and the invention consists of certain novel features ofconstruction hereinafter described and claimed.

I mount at each corner of the truck a vertical roll or spool a mountedto rotate upon a vertical rod or shaft 7) whose upper end is supportedby a bar 0 rigidly projecting forwardly from the end of the truck andwhose lower end is attached to the forward end of a spring cl. The rearend of this spring is rigidly attached to a bar a which rigidly dependsfrom the truck at a point a suitable distance behind the rod 6. Thespool rests upon the forward end of the spring (Z and is free not onlyto rotate upon the rod 6 but to also slide vertically thereon. Thisspool may be made of any suitable material but I prefer to make it ofhard wood. To prevent wear and to strengthen the spool it is shod on itsupper end with a metal plate f and at its lower end with a metal plate9. This spool flares or increases in diameter from its middle toward itsupper end and also toward its lower end, giving to it a circumferentialdish.

The lower end of the rod Z) is provided with a head 71, and this headtogether with a cap 2' affords means for attaching the rod to the upperface of the spring (Z. The upper end of the rod is connected to thesupporting bar 0 by means of a nut j and a washer 70 whose under side isrounded, there by providing a sort of ball and socket joint at the upperend of the rod which permits the rod to have a limited swing inSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 5, 1913.

Patented June 17,1913.

Serial No. 752,167.

all direct-ions and thus permits the rod to follow the yieldingmovements of the spring. This connection also permits the rod to movevertically when the spring (Z yields in that direction. The forward endof the spring lies at a short distance above the rail and its forwardextremity is curved upwardly runner-like so as to readily ride overdisalined rail joints. The spring extends backwardly and curves upwardlyto near the truck wheel, this curvature o-fthe spring giving to it acapacity to yield to a limited degree in all directions.

It will be seen that each spool forms a sort of yielding bumper for theadjacent structure and will act to fend or throw off objects with whichit may come in contact. The double flaring of the spool tends to preventobjects which are struck from riding off the upper end or the lower endof the spool and in that manner tends to prevent the struck objects fromcoming in contact with any of the stationary structure above the spoolor getting under the wheels of the truck. The capacity of the spool torotate and to slide upwardly tends to assist in throwing off struckobjects and preventing them coming into contact with the rigid adj aeentparts, as is evident.

To guard the space between the spools along the side of the truck Iprovide a long guard frame Z which extends along the side of the truck,close to the rail and terminates just behind the curved rear ends of thesprings. This guard is supported close to the outer faces of the wheels,in a vertical plane lying bet-ween the wheels and the ournal boxes, andthe respective ends of this guard are curved inwardly at at so as toterminate at a point behind the springs, thus closing the space thatwould otherwise exist between each end of the guard and each adjacentspring. This guard is constructed in any suitable manner and is rigidlysupported from the truck frame by means of depending rods 72.

It will be understood that I reserve the right to vary the detailconstruction of my guard device in order to adapt it to the varioustypes of trucks, both passenger and freight.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

The combination with a truck of a fender or life guard device consistingof a dished spool and means for yieldingly supporting the same inaverticul position in front of the truck Wheel, said means consisting ofa spring supporting the lower end of the spool, arod on which the spoolis journaled for free rotation and for a free sliding action, and adevice at the upper end of the rod for suspending the rod and allowingit to yield in all directions.

In testimony whereof I hereunto atiiX my signature in the presence oftwo Witnesses.

HOMER H. LAWRENCE.

l/Vitnesses M. H. ALEXANDER,

F. W. NORRIS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 1). G.

